Sunday, March 7, 2010

Just finished reading Patti Smith's Just Kids. A MUST read. Writing this post to keep from crying over the last chapter. It was one of those books that I looked forward to reading every day and did not want it to end. Why? Patti Smith is so human- her love for Mapplethorpe so honestly related. They are beacons for all of us trying to keep the mystery of art alive in our souls and in the world.

The Mending Project, 2009Courtey of the artist and Lombard Freid Projects, New YorkPhoto: Anita KanCollection of R.Tzeng, Taipei. Taiwan.

New York artist Lee Mingwei confronts many stereotypes about modern life in the big city. Lee builds his art around gift giving and the kindness of strangers. Not your standard Type A operating procedure in the Big Apple. In the Mending Project Mingwei accepted and hand sewed damaged clothing given him by visitors to Lombard-Freid Projects. Each mended piece of clothing was tied into the gallery via string then returned to the owner at the completion.

Lee's website statement that he " has continually focused on themes of trust and self-awareness in projects that create a potential for active exchange."

What a fresh, open, and inclusive way to make art. Maybe Migwei is pointing us all toward a new postmodern way of interacting.

The Mending Project will reappear at the Liverpool Biennale in September of 2010.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Artist Mat Mitchell is doing a brave thing; looking straight into the face of war. He is currently working on a project that will have him painting 100 faces of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mitchell is using the wide window of art to capture the multilayered and expansive thoughts and feelings on the experience of war - one face at a time.

Monday, February 1, 2010

HitRecord is a new site that invites creative collaboration between individuals. Here is a video that shows the power. Being that it is Feb. 1, the 50th Anniversary of the Site Ins at Woolworths in Greensboro, it seems only fitting to share this important voice.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Now this is what I am talking about! Talking Side Walks is a literary magazine filled with the stories and photos of people who have experienced homelessness in the Chapel Hill area. Found this quote on the back of most recent issue:

" I've been a very arrogant and elitist man in my life and got swatted like a bug until there were only pieces of me left, and I perhaps would like to redeem myself by giving a voice to people that have no voice. It reminds me of the title of one of the old science fiction novels, called 'I have no mouth but I must scream.' For those that have no voice, I would like to do some of the screaming, and I do." - Phillip Rodney Personette

I just finished reading Jennifer Toth's 1993 book The Mole People. It is a moving account of her brave investigation of life beneath the streets of New York City. Toth, a young Columbia University student, pushed past her fear and the warnings of friends and family to uncover the people and places that many thought of as urban legends only. What most surprised me was that the people she discovered lived within tight communities with their own set of rules. Not without violence, these groups did in fact offer support, even love to its members who could not fit within the paradyms of society aboveground. This book raises as many questions about how we treat each other above ground as it does below. I also found the way Toth became personally invested in helping the people she met as being common among artist activist, myself included, who include the marginalized in their work. Toth's involvement ended with a scare but others have picked up where she left off. A new documentary Voices in the Tunnel has revisited the places and people Toth wrote about in the 90's. I recommend seeing the documentary and reading the book.

Monday, January 18, 2010

I have heard some people are complaining of depression after seeing Avatar- because they cannot live in that world. Maybe rather than take a anti-depressant they should pick up a pencil and paper like Konrad Zoll and really SEE the reality that we have been given.

I had just finished taking a brisk walk in the real world, cold and snowy as it was in the lovely hamlet of Damascus, VA and had just stepped into a warm coffee shop when I came upon a collection of drawings by Konrad Zoll of Durham, NC. Konrad has hiked sections of the AT through Graceland Highlands but unlike most he has also taken time to stop and draw the beauty that so many race past. Konrad is currently working on a new series of drawings from the AT. He does not have a website dedicated to his art but you can friend him on Facebook. Thanks Konrad for reminding us all to stop and really take in the reality that lies before us.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Where do we find hope for a better world when the news paints such a dismal picture; failed states sending explosive underwear bombers out to kill, two wars with more brewing, and on and on. I watched tonight's news with a heavy heart. Soon after hope rang; I received a phone call from friends (Muslims) wanting to plan a big party to bring Muslims and non-Muslims together to get past the head lines. We dreamt of who to invite, and how to proceed. After a half an hour of laughing and sharing ideas I hung up with a feather weight heart. Maybe it is a sin, like the Egyptians believed, to live a life that would give you a heavy heart.

I find hope from friends who remind me to act.

I am also reading a great book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. It is a window into the world of the American South of 1936. Let me tell you- things HAVE gotten better.

I find hope in change.

James Agee wrote: " Above all else; in God's name don't think of it as Art. Every fury on earth has been absorbed in time, as art, or as religion, or as authority in one form or another. The deadliest blow the enemy of the human soul can strike is to do fury honor. Swift, Blake, Beethoven, Christ, Joyce, Kafka, name me a one who has not been thus castrated. Official acceptance is the one unmistakeable symptom that salvation is beaten again, and is the one surest sign of fatal misunderstanding, and is the kiss of Judas."

"Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact."- William S. Burroughs

Welcome

Welcome to my blog on art and activism. This space is dedicated to artists who are making art that is both visually engaging and conceptually focused on issues of social importance. In short, art that seeks to make the world a better place. Be prepared to be challenged, provoked, and hopefully inspired.

A Dream of Trees by Mary Oliver

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,A quiet house, some green and modest acresA little way from every troubling town,A little way from factories, schools, laments.I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,With only streams and birds for company,To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.

And then it came to me, that so was death,A little way from everywhere.There is a thing in me still dreams of trees.But let it go. Homesick for moderation,Half the world’s artists shrink or fall away.

If any find solution, let him tell it.Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentationWhere, as times implore our true involvement,The blades of every crisis point the way.I would it were not so, but so it is.Who ever made music of a mild day?

About Me

"If you ask me what I came to do in the world, I, an artist, will answer you: I came here to live out loud. " - Emile Zola

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"Your work showcasing contemporary arts and activism is so refreshing and necessary, a calm to divisiveness and a balm to the spirit. I very much appreciate you tracking our work and the work of so many committed artists in a culture desperate for truth, beauty and grace.Thank you ever so much.Please keep up your excellent work.

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"Recently heard from a guy named Lucas who has a magazine called Roots. He's found a place for our tiered justice installation. He saw us first on your blog site. Want to say thank you." -Frances

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There is always

"There is always a moment in any kind of struggle when one feels in full bloom. Vivid. Alive. One might be blown to bits in such a moment, and still be at peace....To be such a person or to witness anyone at this moment of transcendent presence is to know that what is human is linked, by daring compassion, to what is divine."